


Sword and Shield

by IgnoctForeverEtchedInMyHeart



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Chill XV, Crushes, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Nervousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 20:07:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9920393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IgnoctForeverEtchedInMyHeart/pseuds/IgnoctForeverEtchedInMyHeart
Summary: Noctis longs for his shield but has no idea how to confess to the only person who has stolen his heart...





	

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I'm just experimenting at the moment. Seeing what works and what doesn't while I try to improve my writing a little for my main fic. I hope it's working *fingers crossed*
> 
> I hope you enjoy a little Gladio x Noctis. Maybe I searched wrong but there doesn't seem to be many of these?
> 
> Anyways.... comments really appreciated ^.^

Noctis sat on his bed in the dark while Ignis was in the kitchen cooking his dinner. His wanted to be alone with his thoughts, to try and get them under control but it was failing. 

Yet again, he was sore and covered in developing bruises following his training session with Gladio this afternoon. Being near Gladio… was distracting and it did not help that the shield had started trying to push him more lately.

He was not sure when it had started but gradually he reaslied how drawn he was to his shield. The man had muscle in all the right places and his tattoo’s only added to his appeal. The shield was the only reason Noctis actually enjoyed going to the citadel.

“Noct! I’m serving up dinner.” A faint voice called.

Noctis sighed. “Alright...” 

He ran his hand through his hair in a smoothing motion then headed out of his room and sat at the table. Noctis watched Ignis bring over a plate and set it before him: fish, mash and vegetables.

“Are you trying to poison me?” Noctis moaned at his advisor.

Ignis chuckled. “I am merely trying to keep you well nourished.” 

Noctis scoffed. “Maybe tomorrow…” He brushed the vegetables off onto Ignis’ plate.

Noctis saw his advisor give him a disappointed look but he did not care. He rolled his eyes and began tucking into his food.

They sat in silence as they ate their food together but it was their usual comfortable silence. 

“Would you like dessert?” Ignis enquired, as he took Noctis’ empty plate and headed to the kitchen.

“You need to ask?” Noctis replied sarcastically.

Ignis returned with a plate of today’s attempts at Tenebrae pastries. 

Noctis took a bite and although it was not right, it still tasted better than anything else he had today. “Too flaky.” In the corner of his eye he saw Ignis’ shoulders drop so he added, “Getting better though.”

“Very well. I shall adjust the recipe accordingly.” He responded, as he adjusted his glasses.

Noctis watched Ignis as he once again returned to the kitchen, leaving Noctis alone to enjoy dessert. He was glad that Ignis gave him space, he always seemed to know intuitively when Noctis wanted to be alone.

When he had finished all four of the pastries he moved over to the sofa and loaded up his games console. Playing games was normally a good distraction for the prince but recently it had failed to keep him from his thoughts of Gladio. His next training session was in two days and that felt like an eternity to him.

Ignis came back in the room with a duster and polish. Noctis gave a faint smile at his chamberlain and friend. 

“Hey, Iggy?” Noctis asked. He did not want to mention Gladio but he was wondering if he could get some advice from the man who seemed to know everything.

“Yes, Noct?” Ignis responded. He stopped dusting and turned to face the prince.

Noctis continued to stare at his TV trying to act casual and like this topic was not the most embarrassing he had ever initiated. “Have you ever liked someone?” He notices a look of surprise on his chamberlain’s face.

“I have indeed…” Ignis responded, in a hesitate tone. “Is there someone who takes the prince’s fancy?”

Noctis laughed at Ignis’ formality and gave him a brief questioning smile. “Takes my fancy? Gods, your funny specs…” Noctis continued playing his game but noticed that Ignis was lingering. He cleared his throat like he had seen in the movies. “Yeah… I guess there is.”

“So the time has arrived that you wish for advice about... dating?” Ignis enquired, as he turned his focus onto Noctis.

Noctis shrugged. “If you have any.” He noticed a small blush form on his chamberlain’s face.

“Right well…” Ignis unnessarily adjusted his glasses. “It depends on the individual to whom has stolen your attention. Every lady is very different…”

Noctis smiled. He had never seen Ignis out of his comfort zone and so unsure of himself. However, Noctis had to correct him. “He’s quite unique.”

Ignis looked at the prince in surprise. “He?”

Noctis nodded. He could not be any clearer than that.

“Oh well… I…” Ignis struggled to form a coherent line of thought.

“Did I make you uncomfortable?” Noctis asked, he would understand if he had. Ignis had no choice but to always be around him and they had shared a bed several times in the past.

“Not uncomfortable, no... It’s just a shook is all. I never suspected that you were into men.” Ignis stated, calmly. 

Noctis could see that Ignis was putting extra thought into his words to ensure that he did not offend the him. His chamberlain was looking troubled as he waited for him to respond.

“Man… Just one man. I’ve never been into anyone else.” Noctis clarified, just so that Ignis had no need to worry. He leant back on the sofa as he paused the game. “What am I supposed to do, Iggy?”

“I assume you mean, how do you confess your feelings?” Ignis frowned, deep in thought.

Noctis closed his eyes, this was just as embarrassing as he had imagined. “Yeah…”

Ignis cleared his throat. “Do you know if he also likes men?”

“No.” Noctis’ shoulders fell. He had only ever heard Gladio talking about girls and he spoke about them a lot.

“Then I believe that is what you first need to find out.” Ignis stated, matter of factly. 

\----

The next day Noctis felt exhausted. He had sat through several meetings and met the Accordo ambassador and now he had no mental capacity left for the day. Without realising where he was walking, he had ended up outside the training area. Gladio was probably on the other side of the door. He wanted nothing more than to see his shield.

Noctis loosely placed his figures on the handle. He was in two minds, he would see Gladio tomorrow anyway but then… Gladio was most likely here, so why wait till tomorrow?

He turned the handle and strode in trying to act casual. His eyes were drawn to Gladio immediately. He was practising his hand to hand combat with another member of the crowns guard that Noctis rarely saw because they were assigned to his father. 

Noctis noticed Gladio stare at him with a raised eyebrow and that was when Noctis realised he had turned up to the training room in a suit. He swallowed, internally begged himself not to loose the little composure that he had. 

Noctis looked around to see several crowns guard stop their training to acknowledge his presence and he tried to remain calm but he increasingly wanted to be swallowed by a daemon.

He felt relieved when Gladio jogged over and the others returned to their training.

“Everything alright?” Gladio asked, with a worried expression on his scarred face.

Noctis took in the sight of the sweat covered shield. He had clearly been training for hours to work himself up into this state. Noctis felt like even more of an idiot but responded casually. “I just thought I’d come see what you were up to… Didn’t realise you were training…”

Gladio laughed. “Didn’t realise I was training? I’m always bloody training... To save your royal ass.” He jokily shoved Noctis’ shoulder.

Noctis avoided looked at his shield. He realised how stupid what he said was and wished that daemon would hurry up and save him from his disaster he had created but the smile that was on Gladio’s face kept him from retreating. “You wanna hang out?”

“Now?” Gladio asked, his eyebrow was raised again then he looked around at everyone else in the training room. His focus returned to Noctis. “Yeah sure… just give me ten to clean up…”

“Right.” Noctis nodded and promptly left the gym. He had made such a fool of himself. He hoped that this was just a bad dream he was having.

Noctis leant against the wall, his arms folded as he waited for the shield to arrive. He was trying to act like his normal non flustered self. Just as stated Gladio was out within ten minutes, showered and freshly dressed.

“Man, my dad will be annoyed, me skipping on training…” Gladio grumbled, as he walked over to Noctis. 

Noctis took in the sight of Gladio. His hair was still damp but he wore dark grey tracksuit bottoms and a black vest - exposing his muscular arms and those inticing tattoo’s. Seeing him like this made him even more appealing. How could one man have so much muscle?

“Wanna grab a pizza?” Noctis asked, knowing that pizza normally went down well when they hung out. It was also a good way to not make Gladio think he was up to something.

“Yeah sure. Let’s go.” Gladio clapped Noctis on the back as they headed off towards the car park.

Noctis felt his cheeks heat as he was practically being steered by Gladio’s firm grip. This was going to be a long evening.

\----

Noctis went flying back against the crash mat, a pain shot through his shoulder. He rolled over and forced himself back into his feet. His eyes were fixated on Gladio who was standing in the same spot as a moment ago, waiting with his sword in hand, ready to strike.

“Do you seriously have to hit me that hard?” Noctis groaned. He had no idea why his shield was doing this. It was almost as if Gladio was trying to keep Noctis from getting too close.

“It’s for your own benefit. You gotta be prepared for battle. Any time. Any place.” Gladio responded, as he got ready to swing his sword at the prince again.

Noctis braced himself as he raised his sword to defend himself from Gladio’s attack but he still found himself staggering backwards against the power behind his shields sword.

Noctis frowned. This time he did not wait and thrusted his sword straight at the shield who deflected him with ease. He swung his sword again, forgetting technique, he just wanted to land a hit but Gladio blocked him every time will little effort.

“Stop.” Gladio said and took a step back from Noctis.

Noctis fell to his knees, panting as he stared at the ground. He felt useless. How could he ever be king if he could not even fight properly?

“What’s on your mind?” His sheild asked, as he sat on the floor besides him.

Noctis looked at his shields eyes and then dropped his gaze back at the floor. “Nothing.”

He heard Gladio scoff. “It’s not nothing if it’s got you all worked up like this.”

Noctis shook his head. He could feel his sweat sliding down his forehead. How was he meant to go on like this? 

He looked back up at his shield. It was now or never. At Least this way he could move on from the rejection and get back to normal. “Do you like guys?” He watched as Gladio quickly turned to face the other way.

“There has been one or two…” The shield mumbled. 

Noctis sat back onto his bum, keeping his eyes fixed on Gladio. He felt a relieved feeling flow through him. “Well, that’s my issue… I like a guy.” The look Gladio gave him made him feel weak throughout his body. “And I can’t concentrate when I’m around him…” Noctis gave Gladio a half smile as he shrugged his shoulders. 

Gladio swallowed. “And how often are you around him...?”

Noctis’ smile grew. Gladio was catching on, quicker than he had expected but it made him glad he could skip most of the embarrassment. “Three or four times a week… it depends on my schedule.” He could see Gladio eyes widen at the realisation. “You’d like him, he likes to kick my arse... a lot.”

“I don’t like to kick your arse. I’m just trying to look after you! Trying to prepare you for the future!” Gladio protested.

Noctis saw the hurt in the shields eyes. “Gladio…?” He whispered his shields name.

“Noct?” The shield looked at him.

Noctis could not understand what Gladio was wordlessly trying to say but it made him push himself closer and closer, until Noctis felt his knees rest against his shields. Noctis tested to see if he was allowed to touch Gladio by placing his hand on his arm. When he was not pushed away he hesitantly placed both of his hands on Gladio’s shoulders and raised himself up so that his face was inches from his shields.

Noctis smiled, Gladio was not pushing him away. Slowly, he pressed his lips against the shield who reciprocated the gesture. Noctis enjoyed the feeling of their warm lips moving against each other. 

Noctis pulled away and looked down at Gladio for confirmation that he was really okay with this and not doing it just because he was the prince.

“Gods, I’ve wanted that for a long time.” Gladio laughed, his arms were firmly wrapped around Noctis. They were never letting him leave.

Noctis felt his cheeks heating as he looked at Gladio’s smiling face. “Me too.” 

They kissed again.

And again.

Until they had to relocate to kiss some more...


End file.
